諸經要集 7.38

7.38

When the elder heard the gāthā, he asked in astonishment: “Why does the man of the way say this?” He replied: “The chicken on the table was your father in a past life. Because of his stinginess and greed, he has constantly been reborn as a chicken to be eaten by you. This small child was formerly a rākṣasa. You were a merchant leader; boarding a boat to cross the sea, your ship went off course and fell into the realm of the rākṣasas, where you were eaten by the rākṣasa. In this way, for five hundred lifetimes, when his lifespan ended he came to be reborn as your son; because the remnants of your offenses are not yet exhausted, he came intending to harm you. This present wife was your mother in a past life. Because her affectionate attachment was deep and solid, she has now returned to become your wife. Now you are foolish and do not recognize your past lives: you kill your father, treat your enemy as a child, and take your mother as your wife. In the five destinies, birth and death revolve without end; wandering through the five destinies, who can know this? Only a man of the way sees this and beholds that. The foolish do not know; shouldn't you be ashamed?” Thereupon the elder's hair stood on end with horror, as if in dread. The Buddha manifested his spiritual power to make him recognize his past lives. Seeing the Buddha, the elder immediately recognized his past lives; he at once repented and confessed his faults, and then received the five precepts. The Buddha preached the Dharma to him, and he attained the path of the srotāpanna.